There was the first steps toward closure today when the family of Michael Brown was able to hold a funeral for him today.
Of course, there is still a lot that will still happen in the next couple of weeks and months that will hopefully bring closure and justice for everyone that's been affected: the family of Michael Brown, the police officer involved and his family, the community of Ferguson, the county police and the St Louis area.I'll share some of those links in a separate post. Two recent articles have made me think a little bit more about how we got here:
Of course, both these pieces are opinion pieces. Earlier tonight I stopped by a McDonald's that happens to be on my walking route home. There are closer McDonald's to work, so I've only been here twice. I did realize that there is a significant difference between this McDonald's and some of the ones that I normally frequent.
1) I didn't feel like having pop today, despite the fact that they had the $1 for any size drink special going. I asked for a small cup for water. Normally this triggers the "I bet you're just going to use this to drink pop" look, instead I got a fake denial, and a regular sized small cup instead of the water cooler cup that you will sometimes get.
2) Of course, getting the regular cup meant that the soda machine also didn't have any special signs indicating that there were no free refills, since you could fill your pop on your own.
3) Finally, as I was eating, someone came in looking for the washroom. At some McDonald's this means getting access to the key and possibly only after a purchase. Here? They were more than happy to direct him to the bathroom. He also ended up not buying anything afterward.
For all intents and purposes this McDonald's could have been in the suburbs. Here, there were no presumptions or judgments made about your intent or purpose. You were given a measure of trust and respect, and for the most part that trust and respect was returned. All patrons were generally polite and respectful and the workers were relatively police and cheerful.
It is a lot different than a McDonald's where the act of asking for a cup for water, instead of buying bottled water, or asking to use the bathroom results in a certain look from the people that work there and sometimes even fellow customers in line.
It made me think about the level of trust and respect that we choose to give and afford people and the amount of mistrust and disrespect we tend to perceive is given and dealt to us. The irony of our modern society is that the more advanced our communications have gotten, we have taken large steps back in communicating at a personal and human level. It used to be the case that information shared even when it match our point of view was valid to hear and learn, and often it led to deeper discussions and discourse. Now, information shared is more of a weapon. A blunt weapon used to pummel anyone with an opposing viewpoint into submission, it's only purpose is to "win" an argument.
What's winning, really? Right now, for all the advancements we've made in the last couple of decades, there are pockets of the country where the only advancements we've made is ways to not talk about it.
Is there a road back to regaining trust and respect for one another again, or is that road no longer open? The more we expect silence to be our answer for effecting change in this world, the farther and farther we'll be from going back down that road. One day the silence will be too deafening to ignore, but it will be too late to turn around.
The only way that we can slowly re-open that path back is to become comfortable with talking about uncomfortable things with one another.
Can we? I trust that we can.
-- wake.eat.sleep